Picky Eating Follow Up

November 28, 2012

Two months ago I posted about how Joseph was getting picky with food. Things are better now, or at least, we’re out of the rut that we were in. The biggest difference came from pouring coconut milk over Joseph’s cereal. Now he loves Kix and Chex in the morning. Before we were serving it to him dry (with milk in a sippy cup) to prevent him making a mess/it getting soggy. Now I have to keep up with all the bowls of cereal/snacks that he wants to eat.

I couldn’t exactly tell you what made the switch from him refusing everything I offered to him accepting rice cake and crackers. Maybe he realized he was no longer saturated with those foods and did like them after all. Maybe its the change in attitude from me being able to say “Yes, you can have this candy” after Halloween or “Yes, you can have this cupcake” at his sister’s birthday. I try not to overindulge with the sugar, but its been great to show that he can have some of the same kinds of yummy things as the rest of us.

Also, after discovering a recipe for macaroni and cheese that he likes, I feel more relaxed that he won’t complain when I make macaroni for the rest of us. Of course, this doesn’t solve the problem of him refusing his veggies, but he at least is more willing to accept “you can have x after you eat y” than his sister was/is.

Colleen commented on my last post about having a tray of multiple safe foods out that a picky toddler can graze from. This is an idea I’ve seen elsewhere. Personally, I think it looks good in theory, but horrible in practice. I can picture the mess, the wasted food when the less favorable foods get passed over and dried out, etc. Especially now that Joseph can talk, I’d rather he just tell me what he wants so I can get it for him. And if he chooses something not so healthy, then we can start trying to find a substitute.

I don’t know if this helps anyone else with toddlers, but that’s what’s been going on with us lately.